The Best Wildlife Viewing Spots in Fairbanks

Come vis­it and you might see up to 15 dif­fer­ent kinds of mam­mals — from beavers to red fox­es, fly­ing squir­rels, snow­shoe hares, and even moose — and sev­er­al species of birds. Through­out the Sanctuary’s trail sys­tem there are 14 inter­pre­tive signs, so you can learn how the birds, fish, frogs, and mam­mals sur­vive in inte­ri­or Alaska’s tough climate. 

The Chena River­walk makes for a relax­ing self-paced stroll along the Chena Riv­er and through the most scenic parks and plazas of his­toric down­town. It’s best when flow­ers are in full bloom (July-August). The path stretch­es approx­i­mate­ly 3.5 miles between Pio­neer Park and Air­port Way, with longer options avail­able. Or — park at Immac­u­late Con­cep­tion Church or in the Down­town Trans­porta­tion Cen­ter for a short­er jaunt.

When you’re dri­ving Chena Hot Springs Road, keep in mind that it’s best not to rush. This jour­ney defines ​“scenic route” as a one-day road trip primed for spot­ting wildlife, explor­ing a new trail­head, and pulling over to cast a line.

The Ruth Bur­nett Sport Fish Hatch­ery stocks arc­tic char, arc­tic grayling, rain­bow trout, chi­nook (king) salmon, and coho (sil­ver) salmon in the Fair­banks region. All told, the fish pro­duced by the Hatch­ery pro­vide fish­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for 137 land­locked lakes locat­ed with­in the Fair­banks, Nenana, Delta and Glen­nallen regions.

Dai­ly tours at the Robert G. White Large Ani­mal Research Sta­tion (LARS) at Uni­ver­si­ty of Alas­ka Fair­banks pro­vide vis­i­tors with the chance to view muskox­en and rein­deer while learn­ing about ongo­ing research study­ing the adap­ta­tions enabling these arc­tic ani­mals to sur­vive and thrive in extreme­ly cold temperatures.

Once a small dairy owned by a cou­ple named Cream­er, this land is now an extra­or­di­nary wildlife refuge. More than 100 species of birds and mam­mals call this wilder­ness home (sand­hill cranes and mal­lards show up all sum­mer), and there are miles of trails that mean­der through a vari­ety of habitats.